[Sca-cooks] My problem cooking lentils

[Lilinah]

Odd... i've cooked really old lentils (hanging around my house for 
well over a year, maybe even over two, and not tightly sealed) and 
i've never had this problem. They were soft enough to eat in... i 
think about 45 min or so... and nice and soft after an hour or 1-1/4 
hours. It certainly didn't take 3 hours!

Soaking them overnight before you cook them ought to help shorten the 
cooking time.

I am assuming you are using the standard lentil in the US, which is 
relatively large, has a sort of olive brown skin. The tiny "French 
lentils" (much smaller and a different shade of green than the 
"usual") have taken much longer to cook in my experience. On the 
other hand, the orange lentils often used in Indian cooking cook even 
more quickly than the "usual", since they are split and skinned.

The orange lentils would not need to be soaked, while the French 
lentils would no doubt cook more quickly if soaked. And i've no idea 
how long the tiny and black "caviar lentils" take to cook as i've 
only bought them already cooked.
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita